this post will probably sound very confusing. as I have previously said, my children are in local authority care, my youngest 2 were adopted in 2014, my middle 3 are in long term foster care and my eldest is moving back in with me. my partners children have recently been taken into care from there mother. his initial assessment as a sole carer for them is negative as he needs to move into his own place and to prove he can provide a stable home for the boys as he has officially not had an address for 3 years (staying with me and friends in that time). the local authority from the area his children are in have spoken with the local authority from the area that my children are and have had excellent reports back, to the point where they said they do not feel I am a danger to any children and they would consider me as a possible joint carer for my partners children next year as long as he works with the social workers in the mean time. there was also a line in the report about my children coming back to live with me. this is what I want but have been told all the way through the children are settled and the plan is long term, and even in the more recent lac reviews it says the plan is for the children to stay where they are, and over the past year every time there is a report made for the reviews, the social worker makes a point of stating my previous failings and his concern that I could put the children in future harm. (this social worker I have only known for a year, the one who did the report for the other authority I have known about 5 years). I am unsure if they are only therefore referring to my eldest coming home. I love the thought that I can help him in this way to get his boys home and to give them the love and care they really need. I told his social worker that I will be a support in whatever capacity they felt best suited the children, but was only expecting to be allowed to meet them initially in a supervised environment, the way that I currently see my own 3 children so it is a pleasant surprise that they seem to think I could take a more active involvement. very confused but feeling hopeful

In relation to your partner’s children it does seem that the situation is looking much more positive although nothing has been finalised. It seems to be very important that he continues to work closely with the social worker and continues to be as involved with his children as their care plans allow. It sounds as if the support you can offer to him and his children is also being taken seriously.

However, I would recommend that you both seek clarity from the social worker for your partner’s children about what this means in reality including about contact initially as there seem to be mixed messages especially in view of your own children’s social worker's comments at LAC reviews.

In relation to the reference to your children coming home, I think you may be right that this may have meant to specify only your eldest child if there is a current plan being worked towards for this child to return home. If the other children are in long-term foster care and at every LAC review the plan for them to remain in foster care is re-affirmed and their social worker raises concerns then this is unlikely to have changed without your knowledge or a significant change of circumstances.

However, the only way to find out for sure is to check directly with the social worker and/or IRO for your own children so that you are as fully informed as possible and that you and your partner are able to continue to work constructively with the professionals involved with your individual children. You are both working hard and hopefully this will have a positive outcome.

Thank you for the reply Suzie. I have tried to get some clarity from the social worker that liaised with the other local authority. Unfortunately she is very hard to contact, with no emails, texts or phone calls having been answered in the past 2 months, but when she visited my home for an inspection before my son was allowed to stay she said "you and I know you have never been a danger to any child and it was just circumstances". She said she is putting in an application to take the other children when they go to aftercare, and said my 14 year old will have "best of both worlds" when she is 16 as she will be able to stay over as long as I have an extra bedroom. That has to be positive even if their current social worker won't consider unsupervised visits yet "due to the risk of harm" in his opinion.